Din Thomas pulled no punches on the UFC 312 post-fight show on Saturday night when he declared that Sean Strickland simply isn’t the fighter he portrays himself to be after his disappointing display in his middleweight title rematch with Dricus du Plessis.
“We just have to admit it now – we have to admit it: Sean Strickland is not who he says he is,” Thomas said on the UFC 312 post-fight show. “He’s not who he says he is. We want him to be something. He wants to be something. But he’s not that guy.
“He’s not the guy who’s going to go to the death. (He says), ‘To the death.’ He didn’t go to the death. He didn’t even go deep. I’m not saying he’s not a great fighter. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be where he’s at. But he’s not who he says he is. We’ve got to admit that.”
Even Strickland’s own coach Eric Nicksick appeared frustrated with the fighter failing to listen to his repeated pleas for him to fight harder, and as a coach himself Thomas could understand why.
“As a coach, I feel for Eric Nicksick because I know what it’s like and I don’t even want to go and be in that situation again,” Thomas said. “I know I’m hard on Sean Strickland. I know it but it’s because I’m cheated. I feel cheated by (Strickland).
“I hear about these gym stories, these wars that you get into, I hear about how great you are and then you go in these fights, these high-level fights and you give us that. You cheat us.”
